CBC men’s soccer looking to repeat NWAC championship this season, sits in 1st place
Martin Ramirez and his staff at Columbia Basin College didn’t leave the cupboard bare after the Hawks won the NWAC men’s soccer championship last year in December.
With three matches remaining in the regular season, CBC has already clinched an NWAC playoff berth and it has a 10-0 East Region record (13-0 overall).
Ramirez, the head coach, has his team playing great defense. The Hawks have surrendered only 7 goals so far this season. That ranks No. 2 in all of the NWAC.
Meanwhile, their 45 goals ranked third in the entire NWAC.
And the goals are coming from everywhere. Freshman midfielder Jorge Perez (Grandview) leads the team with 19 points: 7 goals and 5 assists.
Another freshman midfielder, Rafael Lucio (Las Vegas), has 17 points (6 goals, 5 assists).
Sophomore forward Gabriel Delgado (Southridge) and Lucio both are tied for shots with 30 each. And sophomore defender Jonas Olvera (Pasco) makes his shots count: he’s leading the Hawks with three game-winning goals this season.
Freshman goalkeeper Dylan Isasi-Villalobos (San Jose, Calif.) has started most of CBC’s matches, and he’s been a wall.
The Hawks have been ranked No. 1 all season in the NWAC coaches polls.
Here are the East Region standings through matches played Saturday, Oct. 14:
Columbia Basin 10-0 East, 13-0 overall
Walla Walla 6-2-2, 7-2-6
Spokane 4-3-3, 4-3-3
Wenatchee Valley 4-4-2, 6-6-2
Blue Mountain 3-7, 3-10
North Idaho 1-7-3, 2-8-3
Treasure Valley 1-6-2, 2-7-3
The NWAC tournament begins Nov. 1 with first-round play. CBC will have a bye and begin play in the quarterfinals, which will be held Nov. 4.
Baseball
Richland High senior Alec Ammerman announced on Wednesday that he is committing to pitch for NCAA Division I school Grand Canyon University next year.
Ammerman is a 5-10, 170-pound right-hander who spent this past summer playing for the Mercedes-Benz Baseball travel team.
Cross country
Kennewick High grad Johan Correa seems to just get better each men’s cross country race this fall for Central Washington University.
Last weekend, Correa won his third race in as many events for the Wildcats, this one at the Emerald City Open in Portland.
It was also the third time he has been named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference’s male runner of the week this season.
In Portland, Correa covered the hilly 8K course in 25 minutes and 7.5 seconds.
Correa and the Wildcats next run in the GNAC Championships, set for Oct. 21 in Anchorage, Alaska.
College football
For two consecutive weeks now, Whitworth University has named a Tri-City product its athlete of the week.
On Oct. 10, Kennewick High grad Atticus Templeton earned the honors in the football team’s 59-7 win over Willamette University.
In that game, Templeton had 6 tackles, a forced fumble, and a 42-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown.
This week, Kamiakin graduate Luis Salgado earn the honor. A sophomore running back for the Pirates football team, Salgado rushed for 119 yards and three touchdowns on just five carries as Whitworth beat University of Puget Sound 63-21.
Prep volleyball
There are still a few weeks until postseason play begins in volleyball, but in the 2B Eastern Washington Athletic Conference’s East Division it looks like the teams to beat are River View and Warden.
River View currently sits atop the standings with a 6-0 East record (15-0 overall), while Warden is just right behind (6-1, 13-1).
The rest of the standings are: 3, Walla Walla Valley Academy 2-4, 9-5; 4, Tri-Cities Prep 2-5, 7-8; 5, Columbia-Burbank 0-6, 3-12.
The title could come down to the final night of regular-season play on Oct. 26, when Warden visits River View at 6:30 p.m.
Northwest League Baseball
Realize that the 2024 Northwest League season is still six months away, but the Tri-City Dust Devils recently released their schedule for next year.
The first thing noticeable is that there is only one time the team hosts back-to-back series for 12 games at home at Gesa Stadium in Pasco.
That’ll be April 23-28 against the Everett AquaSox, then April 30-May 5 against the defending Northwest League champion Vancouver Canadians.
The 2024 season begins April 4 at Eugene, and the final regular-season home game is Sept. 8 at home against the Hillsboro Hops.
Here is the entire 2024 Dust Devils schedule (home games in all capitals):APRIL: 4-7 — at Eugene; 9-14 — SPOKANE; 16-21 — at Hillsboro; 23-28 — EVERETT; 30 — VANCOUVER.
MAY: 1-5 — VANCOUVER; 7-12 — at Eugene; 14-19 — HILLSBORO; 21-26 — at Everett; 28-31 — at Vancouver.
JUNE: 1-2 — at Vancouver; 4-9 — EUGENE; 11-16 — at Hillsboro; 18-23 — VANCOUVER; 25-30 — at Eugene.
JULY: 1-3 — SPOKANE; 4-6 —at Spokane; 9-14 — at Hillsboro; 19-21 — EUGENE; 23-28 — EVERETT; 30-31 — at Vancouver.
AUGUST: 1-4 — at Vancouver; 6-11 — SPOKANE; 13-18 — at Everett; 20-25 — EUGENE; 27-31 — at Spokane.
SEPTEMBER: 1 — at Spokane; 3-8 — HILLSBORO.
Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Tri-City Herald.
